I declined the Hepatitis B shot for my baby at the hospital after birth for a couple reasons:

People who are at risk of contracting this communicable infection are those who are having unprotected sex, using IV drugs, or in blood contact with an infected party. Umm… my baby would not be partaking in any of these activities.

I never had Hepatitis B, so clearly it wouldn’t have transferred to my baby.

Why on earth would I agree to this injection for my newborn baby?

I agreed to the Ilotycin (aka Erythromycin) — which is an antibiotic eye ointment that is routinely applied to newborns in order to prevent neonatal conjunctivitis.

I also agreed to the Vitamin K shot — because newborn babies may have low levels of Vitamin K — which is needed to clot blood. Babies can have bleeding into the brain resulting in significant brain damage.

So I said yes to the eye antibiotic and the Vitamin K, but I drew my line in the sand on the Hepatitis B vaccine.

I want to stress this… I think vaccines are important. I’m not against any parent who is pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine. Ultimately, I believe we do what is best for our children based on the information we have available to us.

Baby’s First Vaccinations At At 2 Months Of Age?

When I was growing up, there were approximately 10 recommended vaccines by the time I would have been 6 years old.

Today, if I am to follow the CDC schedule, my baby will be subject to 74 doses by age 17 — with about half given by the time he is 2 years of age.

When my baby turned 2 months of age (which was time for the first round of vaccinations, according to the CDC schedule), I decided that I was going to need more time and research infant vaccinations before allowing a pediatrician to inject my 2 month old with up to 6 vaccines in a single visit!

After watching Ty Bollinger’s The Truth About Vaccines series I was really tormented on the topic of infant vaccinations.

I wanted to watch the series objectively and, thankfully, my husband was willing to watch the series too.

After carefully considering both sides of the vaccination debate, we came to the mutual conclusion to vaccinate our baby — but we were going to follow an alternative vaccine schedule instead of following the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule.

Finding Vaccine Friendly Pediatricians

Finding a pediatrician who is vaccine friendly (meaning, willing to deviate from the CDC schedule) was a bit of a challenge. Most offices will dismiss families from their practice if you do not follow the CDC’s immunization schedule for children.

At 8 months of age, my baby just received his first vaccine. He will then receive 1 shot once a month until he is up-to-date.

Why We Chose An Alternative Vaccine Schedule

Here are a couple of reasons why we chose an alternative vaccine schedule (also called a delayed vaccine schedule) — without getting into too much detail about the debate or picking a side:

I’m a stay at home, work from home mom. I wasn’t returning to work, so we weren’t in a race to have him up-to-date with his shots to get into daycare.

It was really important to me to allow my baby to build up his own immune system. He has the rest of his life to come in contact with toxins — so I didn’t want to purposely inject them into his body.

We feel that 1 shot at time is the easiest on our baby’s immune system — rather than a bunch of shots in a single visit. I am just not convinced it is necessary for the chemical overload of multiple shots in a single visit.

The Bottom Line…

If you are on the fence about infant vaccinations, I would recommend researching the diseases which the vaccines are aimed to prevent.

Personally, my research is nowhere near complete — I have a lot more research to do into all of the suggested vaccines.

The CDC schedule does not give much time for parents/caregivers to contemplate the topic of infant vaccinations — especially if you are returning to work and need the vaccinations for childcare.

Unfortunately, there are 2 solid sides to this coin and the debate will forever continue. We can only do what we think is best for our children and pray to not be one of the statistics of adverse effects.

I'm a first-time mom. I work from home and write -- mostly about my quest for time- and sanity-saving techniques as a new mom. I also like to share details about the alternative choices I'm exploring, as I enjoy this journey called motherhood. My family includes a newborn, 2 teenage stepchildren (who live with their mom), 2 dogs, 2 cats, and a wonderful husband. My pre-pregnancy life was full of freedom and adventure, so I have a fresh new perspective when it comes to having a small tiny human by my side 24/7!

MORE LIKE THIS ...

FREE PREGNANCY/PARENTING TIPS

Stay up-to-date with what's happening on The Pregnancy & Parenting Guide. If you're a first time mom, then you'll appreciate these helpful Pregnancy, Labor, and Delivery tips. Plus, personal advice from parents about Raising Babies and Toddlers. You'll always be the first to see our helpful ideas as soon as we publish a new article.